Teacher-coach says he doesn't know why he was put on leave

OVIEDO — An Oviedo High School basketball coach has been placed on administrative leave from his coaching and teaching duties at the school and says no one is telling him why.

John Howell, 56, a veteran coach and teacher with Seminole County public schools, says officials are mum on why he has been sent home on paid leave. He said Principal Robert Lundquist simply called him last Thursday and told him to stay home.

Superintendent Bill Vogel said he put Howell on paid leave pending results of a school district investigation into undisclosed allegations. He declined to give details, but said that within a few days he expects to either suspend Howell — a move toward firing — or reinstate him.

Meanwhile, rumors over alleged inappropriate behavior with students are running wild, Howell said.

"Hopefully, I will get through this without my reputation being destroyed," said Howell, assistant coach for the boys' varsity basketball team and a social studies teacher at Oviedo High since 1996. He previously taught for Orange County public schools as well as Lake Highland Prep.

Howell, who denies any wrongdoing, acknowledges that he was investigated by school district officials in September and cleared of earlier allegations involving favored treatment of two students, including financial assistance.

A district investigator's report obtained by the Sentinel showed there was "insufficient evidence to find that Mr. Howell engaged in any criminal conduct or inappropriate intimate or physical interactions with either named student over the course of several years."

The current allegations remain a mystery. The Seminole Sheriff's Office reports that it does not have a criminal investigation of Howell under way. But the Sheriff's Office could not reveal whether the Florida Department of Children and Families was looking into any complaints.

Howell is no stranger to controversy at the school. Last year he was removed as assistant athletic director amid a scandal over player eligibility violations in the wrestling and volleyball programs. The Florida High School Athletic Association fined the school $57,000 and demanded that Howell step down, among other sanctions.

Howell earlier was demoted from athletic director of the school and reprimanded by Principal Lundquist in 2009 for falsifying documents regarding termination of an assistant baseball coach, his personnel file indicates.